A Dark Hope
by Terrowin
Summary: They never found his body. They say his particles just ceased to exist. No one can explain it fully. The loss is felt deeply. When a stranger who seems to be a meta-human emerges who claims to have come from somewhere no one has ever heard of that flicker of hope that no one wanted to ignite explodes. Saving Wally may be possible after all. WallyXRichard, BartXJamie
**I realize that the characters are not in character all the time**

 **SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED SEASON 2!**

 **Also I refer to Wally West AKA Kid Flash, as Wally West all the time (at least I hope I do; I may screw up at some points) But yeah not to confuse you guys, but Kid Flash I will be referring to Bart West AKA Impulse. I will be using Kid Flash and Impulse interchangeably to refer to Bart West (this will be explained later on).**

 **Also disclaimer:I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this fic, they belong to their rightful owners as to the worlds described.** **I do not own the cover art it belongs to wallyhoney on tumblr**

 **Also I just got into the DC universe with Young Justice so I'm not all that sure of what I'm basing it off of. It is some quick internet research and what I've seen in that short series and from the few seasons of The Arrow and The Flash, so bear with me and let me know of any inconsistencies that I can fix.**

 **beta'd by the lovely** StrawbrryX3 **who went so far as to watch the show to know wtf i was talking about. truly amazing.**

 **Chapter One**

 _The kid flash is in danger. His slower speed is making him an exit valve for the chrysalis energy. In 16 seconds he will cease_

"Cease? Cease what?"

"Bart, we have to slow down more, try to siphon off some of the energy attacking Wally." Flash watches his nephew take another blast of energy staggering.

"It's no good Barry. Man, Artemis is so going to kill me for this and don't even get me started on mom and dad." Wally jests but the mirth is not reflected in his eyes, they're sad.

"Please tell them okay?"

"KID!" Flash yells, his nephew gone, the implication of his last words clear.

"Hello son are you lost? How did you come to get here" I turn to see a bald man in a wheel chair looking at me in a fond yet curious manner.

"Where am I ask" looking around on guard. This place is old, not in a rundown way, but a museum way.

"This is my school. Xavier's Institute for Higher learning, I am Professor Xavier. What is your name?"

~Blue Beetle~

Nightwing steps down. Kaldur'ahm is once again taking lead of the team, Artemis goes by Tigres, Impulse now goes by Kid Flash. Taking Wally's place.

Wally.

Wally's dead.

Because of me.

If I had not lost control of the scarab, things may have never played out the way they did. The team has suffered much. Some more than others. A lot of things may have turned out better if a lot of things had been changed. The Flash has gone back in time once or twice, but time is a fickle thing and I'm sure if Flash had the opportunity he would have done just that. There must be a reason. 'All things happen for a reason', is that not the saying?

As if saying it makes it any easier.

The assigned missions are given. Time goes on. People change. Artemis was always a ruthless partner but she had grown more open from what I've heard. Now she seems to have reverted back. Pairing her up with the new Kid Flash had not been the wisest choice for the first mission back together. Kaldur'ahm had learned his lesson they were never paired again. Impulse -I refuse to call him Kid Flash, at least in my head- brings too many memories in his new gear.

The team has changed.

The world is a darker place. We all know loss now.

~months later~

There is a disturbance in bar down town. On Rhode Island. Close to Mount Justice.

Impulse and I decide to check it out. It's not an official mission, we've been spending a lot of time together since the incident. Everything superficial, not deep, we both have wounds we do not wish to open. And the company is nice. The report is of a man wielding multiple knives and getting into fist fights. The chatter claims that the man has not been taken down even with multiple bullets fired. It seems like a simple enough incident for police to handle but with no missions and peace seemingly throughout the galaxy, neither of us wish for the time to spend with our thoughts.

We watch from a roof across the street. A well-built man with a funny hair style stumbles out from the bar. A man pursues him wielding a baseball bat. Wally… I mean Bart goes in to intervene, but even with his speed, we are caught unaware and the bat makes contact. The man doesn't even flinch; the aluminum bat dents from the impact. The funny hair-doo guy turns, throws the man against the bar, and his knives come out. He must have them up his sleeve.

Bart speeds by and catches the injured man before he can fall face-first onto the concrete.

The odd man speaks.

"Quicksilver is that you? You look a little weird in the get up and dying your hair I gotta say, I wouldn't think it, but red's not bad on you. I'm so glad you're here I thought I was all alone."

"Bart do you know this guy?" I ask as I fly over. Bart looks very confused. His eyes wide through the goggles.

"No."

"From the future maybe?" I try and push further.

"Come on kid it's me, Logan… Wolverine? Part of the X-Men."

"Is that what they call you people? X-men?" I question the strange man. He seems to notice me for the first time?

"What? No we're mutants. And they're not my people." The man appears confused, he brings a hand to his head to rub his face. "I must still be dreaming" he mutters, stumbles, and staggers away.

"Hey not so quick, man." Bart scrambles, he grabs rope from somewhere and ties the man up by whirling around him. The man stops. Looks down at himself. Then at Bart. He growls. Actually growls. I haven't heard a human do that since Superboy. The sound of sliding metal is loud and the ropes fall away; cut. The man's knives hang from his hands.

"Get lost kid." He goes to walk away again. The knives retracting into his body.

Extraordinary. I raise my staple gun at him and attach him to a building. His hands far away from the restraints. The man, Logan, continues to struggle. Bart is a blur and runs to knock the man out with a solid kick to his head. The man goes limp. Bart screams and crumples next to the stranger, holding his leg. He must've injured it. But how? I fly over to Bart and radio up to the watch tower. They're gonna want to see this.

~Wally West~

This world is darker than the one I came from as I stare out at the grim, bleak bones of a once great city. Now it is nothing but ruins. When I had arrived here the people had been on the cusp of a civil war. A species war. The Mutants as they were called are much like the Meta humans of my world; however, their biggest threat isn't alien invasion but their own governments. The mutants weren't praised, deified like they may have been in my world, they were persecuted, segregated, experimented on. A darker world indeed.

~Blue Beetle~

All have gathered in the watchtower, all the members of the Team –even Nightwing came out of the shadows to see this- and a majority of the Justice League themselves gather round. Rocket came to meet us to aid in transport of the stranger, who had not remained unconscious long. The moment he came to the man growled again and started to attack the bubble, not realizing even his claws of metal couldn't break through. Realizing such, the man quickly ceases all attacks. He stands silent, arms crossed. Even now, his eyes are furious as they dart around the many faces here.

Batman holds the dented aluminum bat in hand, examining the damage. Bart had been wise enough to grab it before we departed for the watchtower. M'gann had been kind enough to show our memories of the incident to the gathered members, because words themselves could not do the incident justice.

"You say he called you Quicksilver, as if he recognized you?" Martian Manhunter clarified reaching out to inspect the bat from Batman.

"Not so much recognized me per say, 'cuz he said I died my hair red and was wearing a funny suit…"

"It's more like he recognized the power." I piped up. Perhaps a friend of Flash, he should hurry and arrive to clear the manner of this… creature up. Scarab dutifully put in his 2 cents. Bart continues to recount the entire incident another time as if they all have not witnessed it themselves. I glance at the stranger, his claws gone for now. He wears no gloves; could his skin be like that of Miss Martian around his hands and he can transform that singular body part? But into a weapon. Is that possible?

One of the Zeta tubes comes to life announcing the arrival of Flash and Superman, the two of them strut into the room, brows furrowed and bodies tense.

"M'gann, if you would be so kind as to show them what happened" Manhunter asks his niece politely. I make eye contact with Miss Martian and nod, the memory is extracted from my view, since using Bart's proved to be too much of a blur. The others watch arms cross as the scene enfolds once again.

"What is your name?" Superman demands. Always right to the point. The stranger remains quiet for some time.

"Wolverine" he gruffs out.

"And do you wish to do us harm Wolverine?" Superman demands taking a step closer to the bubble, taking command of the situation.

"An odd thing for a warden to ask their prisoner." The man bites out.

"Do you wish to do us harm" Superman repeats with more emphasis.

The man remains quite in response, the silence drags on. Everyone shifts their weight but stays silent, only Superman has yet to show any discomfort in the situation he stands in a power pose. Arms crossed, legs apart, chest puffed up. Very Alpha male, very Superman.

"Only if you give me a reason." Wolverine says, voice low not threatening but not friendly either.

"Let us hope we do not." With that Superman nods to Rocket and she releases the bubble.

The man lands gracefully as the bubble disappears. The tension in the room is high and everyone stand ready to attack given the slightest provocation.

"So what do I call this band of misfits." The gruff man huffs out looking around us, he doesn't seem surprised to see the Martians or those of more unorthodox aesthetics. He takes it surprisingly well for a human who has no idea who we are.

"We are a combination of members from the Justice League and a covert ops team as well." Superman responds easily, still in his alpha male pose.

"So what you are a bunch a superheroes in spandex" he raises a bushy eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips.

 _'Quite the disrespectful…thing'_. My beetle hisses.

"Thing?" I hiss back.

It is not human, he clarifies, but he is not extraterrestrial either. The element composing his skeleton is one I have never seen before. He falls silent afterward, but his power itches under my skin, buzzing with a nervous energy.

"And what exactly may you be." Batman rumbles, voice deep and threatening. Confirming my suspicions that he is only capable of such intimidation.

"We are called mutants." The man sighs, a sadness covering his face.

"And these mutants are from which extra-terrestrial planet?" Black Canary asks, taking a curious step closer. Wolverine shoots her a hard look.

"Earth" he snaps.

"But you are not human." Manhunter adds.

"Not entirely," Wolverine sighs his shoulders hunching "We are the next species in homosapiens sapiens evolutionary chain." He looks down his memories going somewhere far away.

"So there are more like you." Miss Martian pops up levitating a few feet in the air excitement in her voice. Wolverine snaps to look at her his face enraged. Everyone takes a collective step back and ready their preferential weapons.

"There were… there are… I don't know, I haven't seen any since I woke up frozen to death in the god forsaken artic not 2 months back." A collective gasp would have traveled through all present if not for our superb self-control.

"Where in the artic? Were there any distinguishing characteristics?" Flash rushes to ask, his hope seeping through his voice. Wally's body had never been found; denial goes along way.

"Yeah, ice and snow." The man snaps back, crossing his arms, managing to look both annoyed and threatening. Silence encompasses all of us, the earth continues to turn beneath the watch tower looking so far away from this absurdness. The Zeta tube hums to life for the second time tonight recognizing Arsenal and Green Arrow. Their relationship is still rocky and Arsenal is still no longer a member of either team so his presence is unexpected and mounts the tension in the room even further. Green Arrow walks into the room and over to Batman, they exchange a few hushed words. Arsenal joins the crowd. Green Arrow must've authorized his entry, but why has yet to be answered.

 _'Maybe the thing is another abomination from Cadmus Laboratories_ ', the scarab helpfully supplies. It's a possibility for sure, the length of depravity Lex Luther is willing to sink to is not exhaustible.

"How did you get from the middle of the artic to here?" Superboy demands in his bluntness, arms crossing over his chest as he mimics his 'fathers' stance.

"I walked" Wolverine deadpans.

"You would've died." Superboy raises his voice losing patience. The man gives a dark chuckle.

"You'd be surprised what I can survive." He smiles at this, his canines longer than a regular human and his wild hair gives him an animalistic look that gives me shivers. By Bart's reaction, he feels the same. Another suffocating silence falls among us. Batman and Green Arrow are still having words off to the side. Their voices growing drawing the attention of a lot of those presence, myself included. That's how we missed it, the gunshot. We all startle and look to the wild man as he falls to the ground bullet in his forehead. Arsenal stands across from him his weaponized arm raised.

"I'd be surprised if he survives that." The ex-archer growls out, his eyes narrowing. Everyone pounces at him till we are all an incoherent mess of raised voices. Superboy has Roy pushed up against a wall feet dangling as he lifts him by his shirt with super strength. I stay rooted to my spot, speechless. I turn to the man, expecting to see a growing blood pool beneath is head. The blood freezes in my veins from what I see. The scrape of metal is distinct as the injured man rises with his claws extended. The room is silent, the bullet falls from the wound in his head clattering to the floor. Not even a scar mars the man's face.

"You'll regret that kid." The beast of a man growls out.

 **I realize this could be a crossover, but the universe will only be DC and young Justice as far as my limited planning goes. All relationships will be between members of the DC comics as well. the X-men universe will be mentioned but not in any real capacity other then Wally's POVs and memories.**

 **I was going to have Aqualad and Superboy as a couple 'cuz I'm not a huge fan of him and M'gann and after the first episode I totally shipped them like come on, they saved each other more than they saved any others. But I'm not set in stone for that couple, if anyone can give an alternate suggestion I'd be open to consider it just; inbox me or mention it in a review**

 **Thanks for reading**


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